Established: In the Department of the Treasury, 1943. First
statutory recognition of name in Treasury Department
appropriations act for FY 1954 (67 Stat. 68), June 18, 1953.

Predecessor Agencies:

Suppression of counterfeiting:

U.S. marshals and district attorneys (1806-60)

In the Department of the Treasury:

Office of the Secretary (1860-63)

Office of the Solicitor of the Treasury (OST, 1863-65)

Secret Service Division (SSD), OST (1865-79)

SSD (1879-1943)

Functions: Enforces federal laws against counterfeiting and
investigates violations. Maintains safety of currency, bonds, and
other securities in the Treasury Building and its vaults.
Protects the current President and Vice President, former
Presidents and Vice Presidents, the President- and Vice
President-elect, and Presidential and Vice Presidential
candidates, together with their immediate families. Protects
foreign heads of state and of government while on a visit to the
United States. Provides security for the White House complex and
for foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and elsewhere
in the United States.

Finding Aids: Lyle J. Holverstott and Forrest R. Holdcamper,
comps., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the United
States Secret Service," NC 109 (1965); supplement in National
Archives microfiche edition of preliminary inventories.

Security-Classified Records: This record group may include
material that is security-classified.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the U.S. Secret
Service in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
General Records of the Department of the Treasury, RG 56.
Records of the Solicitor of the Treasury, RG 206.

History: Enforcement of Counterfeiting Prevention Act (2 Stat.
404), April 21, 1806, handled through U.S. marshals and district
attorneys until an act of June 23, 1860 (12 Stat. 102),
transferred responsibility to the Secretary of the Treasury.
Functions delegated to the OST, 1863. National Currency Act (12
Stat 665), February 25, 1863, created a national currency and
extended sanctions against counterfeiting. SSD established in the
OST, July 1865, with primary responsibility for combating
counterfeiting, forging, and the altering of currency and
securities. OST transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) by
the Department of Justice Act (16 Stat. 162), June 22, 1870. SSD
remained in the Treasury Department, but continued under the
supervision of the Solicitor until 1879. Statutory recognition
accorded SSD by act of August 5, 1882 (22 Stat 230). SSD began
providing protection to the President following the assassination
of President William McKinley, 1901. White House Police Force
created by an act of September 14, 1922 (42 Stat. 841); placed
under the SSD by an act of May 14, 1930 (46 Stat. 328); and
renamed the Executive Protective Service by an act of March 19,
1970 (84 Stat. 74). SSD assumed responsibility for physical
security of Treasury Building (Treasury Security Force) by
departmental order, April 30, 1937. SSD renamed USSS, 1943. See
87.1.

Textual Records: Microfilm copies of abstracts of agents'
reports, 1865-71 (7 rolls); and daily reports of agents, 1875-
1936 (832 rolls). Registers of letters sent, 1863-1903; received,
1863-1903, with index, 1894-98, 1901-2; and referred, 1863-69.
Letters sent by the Chief Clerk, 1869-70. Letters sent, 1870-73,
and register of letters received, 1870-74, by the Chief of the
Secret Service Division while in New York. Letters sent, 1899-
1918, with indexes. Letters received from U.S. attorneys, 1879-
87; and from private citizens, federal agencies, and U.S.
Senators relating to Spanish espionage activities, 1898. General
correspondence, 1894-1937, with card indexes. Orders, circulars,
and bulletins, 1874-1938. Miscellaneous administrative records,
1917-25. Records of action taken on arrests ("Judicial Action"),
1931-32. Opinions of the Solicitor of the Treasury, 1883-1915.
Fiscal records, 1865-1923, including cashbooks and records of
payments, 1869-1911; ledgers, 1912-21; and records of employment,
1865-71. Records relating to the dismissal of Special Operative
Michael M. Mulhall, 1892-93. Albums of newspaper clippings, 1894-
1912. List of diplomatic and consular officers representing Latin
American governments, n.d. Summary of meetings of the
International Conference at Geneva for the Adoption of a
Convention for the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency, 1927-
29. Administrative and subject files, 1932-60. Master subject and
name card index, 1932-71. The Record, a weekly bulletin of the
Secret Service, 1938-59.

Textual Records: Special investigation reports, consisting of a
decimal file, 1906-20, and an alphabetical file, 1871-1933.
"Description and Information of Criminals," 1863-1906, with
indexes. Record books of arrests and convictions, 1869-1930.
Registers and lists of suspects, 1870-1911; counterfeiters, 1863-
73; and anarchists, 1901-2. "Pardon and Parole" case files, 1926-
37. Closed investigation files, 1920-38, with case history
sheets, 1935-37. Index to names of recipients of rewards, 1913-
20. Records relating to seized contraband property, 1890-91.
Report of the Franz von Rintelen mission to prevent arms
shipments from the United States to the Allies, 1915-18. Arrest
history files, 1909-33. Case file on the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy, 1963-77.

Photographs : Criminals and
suspects, some in albums, 1888-1931, with indexes and supporting
documentation (4,000 images, in Washington Area).

Know Your Money, 1940 (1 reel). The Secret Service Story, 1955 (1
reel). Motion picture films relating to activities of the U.S. Secret Service, including films relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, the attempted assassination of President Gerald R. Ford, counterfeiting and its suppression, the history of the Secret Service, and other topics, ca. 1934 - ca. 1974 (41 films).

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.